


White Orchid

by blackwolf066



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Fix-It, Gen, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves is trying his best, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Klaus and Ben and Vanya are my babies, Klaus and Vanya have more in common then they know, Klaus isn't stupid like everyone likes to believe, No Incest, One-Shot, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, but it could also be canon if you want, but mostly his thoughts toward Vanya with mentions of Ben, but that's not what i'm really going with, can't believe i have to put that but i bloody will, for now though i do have ideas for a longer mulit-chapter fic, he's also observant despite not always acting on it, mention of drugs cause it's klaus, no beta we die like ben, or sorts, post vanya's book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24622735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackwolf066/pseuds/blackwolf066
Summary: "She's lonely Klaus, look at her."Thing was, Klauswaslooking; and if he were being honest, he had been for a long time now.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 349





	White Orchid

**Author's Note:**

> I realize that this starts out kinda sudden, with no context at all; but i promise it's on purpose. Klaus is my absolute favorite character in the series (tied with Ben) and this piece is just a snippet of a project much larger that i hope i can work on. Should it go no farther it can be considered a stand a-lone one-shot, a prequel moment between Vanya's book and before the show, but i do hope that i will get to it eventually (i have a project that needs to be finished first on Fanfiction(dot)net before i can bring myself to tackle this one, though). 
> 
> If Klaus is a little OOC then i'm sorry, i did try to keep to his character as best i could, but the headcanons i have for Klaus are essentially changing him for the road i want him to go on. Feedback is appreciated as always, but don't feel pressured to do so.
> 
> also sorry in advance if there are mistakes, i'm a bit rusty with my writing but i'm trying to get back into it.

"She's lonely Klaus, look at her."

Thing was, Klaus _was_ looking; and if he were being honest, he had been for a long time now. 

Contrary to popular belief among his father and siblings (excluding Ben, but that was only during Klaus' more 'sober' moments) Klaus wasn't stupid. Sure, he wasn't the brightest, he would admit to that (that title belonged solely to Five) but he really wasn't stupid. He had been pegged as the loud and obnoxious one, the clown that couldn't ever take anything seriously. He used humor to deflect from his own emotions, to hide how some words stung more then he'd ever like to admit. Klaus was many things in the eyes of himself and others, but what everyone seemed to forget was how annoyingly observant he could also be (when he wanted to be anyway or when he wasn't high as a fucking plane). You couldn't survive on the streets for as long as he has without being observant, and yes while having your ghostly brother there to watch your back might be considered cheating, Ben didn't always linger around him either; so Klaus usually had to fend for himself during those rare times. Even back in the academy days he was more observant then his siblings or father ever gave him credit for.

He just didn't always _act_ on that observancy

He knew Vanya was lonely growing up, knew that their father labeled and outcasted her, and in turn he and the rest of their siblings followed his lead and did the very same. At the time, Klaus had his own issues to work through (they all did and still do). He was just a kid after all, kids were supposed to be a little selfish, and their childhood had never been a normal one to begin with, so was it really all that surprising that they all turned out to be extremely selfish little assholes? As kids, their behavior could have been explained away by years of trauma, but that didn't mean that as an adult, finally out from under dear old dad's thumb, that Klaus couldn't have tried to reach out to their ordinary sister. Then again, by that time no one was willing to deal with him or his inconvenient and self induced problems, so who was to say Vanya would have even tolerated or even appreciated his attempts?

_She would have, you know she would._

But that was just it, he knew she would have, that she would have welcomed him, and it was that truth that had had Klaus not wanting to put his problems on her to begin with (perhaps one of the few selfless things he had ever done in his life). He didn't want to see her hope, to see her trust him enough to come out of her lonely shell, only to watch it all fade back inward as he continued to willingly destroy himself over and over again (he see's enough of those looks in Ben, after every rehab stint and eventual relapse). Klaus knew his own track record, knew that leaving her for days and weeks and months on end, only to turn back up when he needed or wanted something, would eventually destroy her too. The others had been through it enough with him, the looks all the same before each and everyone had eventually given up on trying to change him. Maybe it wasn't as selfless as he first had thought, maybe it was selfish of him, but honestly selfish or not, he couldn't bare to see someone else be disappointed in him too.

Then the book happened, and Klaus couldn't honestly tell you what emotion he felt the strongest after it all went to hell. Sure there was anger and disbelief and so much hurt, that his sweet, quiet little sister could drag them all out in the dirt like that; even Ben and Five, who he vaguely remembers had always tried to include Vanya in their activities when they could (when no one else would or could have been bothered). To have what little privacy Klaus held close, aired to the world so callously, hurt more then he would have liked to admit. He wanted to hate her after it too, wanted to hold the grudge and sever the ties that claimed her as family (to throw her words of them being strangers right back in her face by making them true), but that was never Klaus' thing (unless it was against their father), and even he, as angry and hurt as he had been, could see the book for what it truly was. A cry from the lonely, wanting to make themselves feel less lonely; to make themselves heard in a world much louder then they ever could hope to be. 

So yes, Klaus knew Vanya was lonely, he didn't need Ben to tell him what his own damn eyes could see. 

He doesn't know why he does what he does next, doesn't need Ben's prompting or even his proud or fond look as he does it, but the posters for the upcoming concert all around town, blink like neon signs, and the little money he scrounged up and saved (money he was gonna use for his next hit), feel as though they're burning a hole in his pocket for a totally different reason then usual. 

In the end, a ticket is bought, the cheapest one his meager money can afford; it's basically in the nose bleeding section, but it's the thought that counts (or so Ben says), and as he passes a floral shop the night of the concert, he can't help but spend the last of his crumpled bills on the lone white orchid he sees in the window. 

It doesn't make up for all the times he could have been there in the past. It doesn't even guarantee that he won't just up and hurt her like he's hurt the rest of their siblings in the end. But the radiant (if a little awkward after her initial shock at seeing him) smile Vanya gives as he finds her and hands over the orchid after her show (her favorite flower, she murmurs in awe that he even remembered), tells him it might just be worth it to try.


End file.
